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Budget Workshop is the Next Step for New PI Program

The Office of Research Development and the Center for Research on Families continued its commitment to new Principal Investigators by offering another installment of the “I’m a PI! Now What?” series, which focused on budget and finance issues related to grant work.

The workshop, held on November 9th, responded to a main concern that arose from September’s session. In September’s session, PI’s indicated needing more information, training and confidence when it came to handling their budgets. The series, which is intended to assist faculty PIs in managing the administrative work of grants, is designed by faculty members, for faculty members. This latest event was very much a “working” group of faculty and staff from across campus representing the Psychology, Communication, Microbiology, Geosciences and Environmental Conservation departments and the School of Education.

Faculty learned how their budgets, spending activity and payroll information could be accessed easily thanks to a “PI Dashboard” available by logging on to Summit, a web-based tool that delivers financial data quickly. Special thanks to Joe Hession from Administration and Finance who provided the overview and hand’s on training. For more information go to: http://www.umass.edu/af/systems/files/jobaids/summit_pi.pdf

Faculty were encouraged to keep track of their spending regularly and to work with their bookkeepers surrounding issues such as procards vs. travel cards, supply and equipment purchases and travel arrangements. Hopefully the tips from the presenters and peers combined with the examples in their “survival kit” helped to diminish the anxiety around this issue.

We would also like to thank Maureen Perry-Jenkins for her continued involvement for facilitating these workshops. Stay tuned for upcoming workshops.

The program is sponsored by and offered in collaboration with the Office of Research Development.